Method of recording erase pattern information on an optical recording medium, erasing information on the optical recording medium based on the erase pattern information, and optical recording medium therefor

ABSTRACT

An optical recording medium is provided for allowing data to be recorded on, erased from, and reproduced from, and storing information about power levels of an erase pulse. The recorded erase pattern information may include information about power levels of first and last pulses of an erase pattern for erasing data. The first and last pulses of the erase pattern can be differently set depending on the differing kind of recording layer or layers of a disk or differing kinds of disks and recorded in a reproducible only area or rewritable area of the optical recording medium. Thus, by presetting the appropriate erase power levels, the time required for selecting an optimal erase power for the optical recording medium can be considerably reduced.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 11/601,813, filed Nov. 20, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,411,880 nowallowed, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/414,328, filed May 1, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,447,129, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/320,737, filed Dec. 17,2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,369,470. This application also claims thebenefit of Korean Application No. 2002-27928, filed May 20, 2002 in theKorean Intellectual Property Office and U.S. Provisional Application No.60/390,119, filed on Jun. 21, 2002, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an optical recording medium, and moreparticularly, to a method of recording erase pattern information on anoptical recording medium, erasing information on the optical recordingmedium, and the optical recording medium on which power information ofthe erase pattern information is recorded.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recording data on an optical disk, a kind of optical recording media,means that a mark is made in a track formed on the optical disk.Currently recordable, erasable, and reproducible disks typically includeRW-CDs of 650 MB, DVDs-RAM/R/RW of 4.7 GB, DVDs+RW of 4.7 GB, HD-DVDs of23 GB, which are still under development, and the like. In a rewritabledisk, a recording layer may be coated with a phase change layer which iscaused to change from a crystalline to amorphous state according to anapplied temperature or power level, with a mark being formed (accordingto the data required) through a phase change of the phase change layer.In such a rewritable disk, a writing strategy, according to the types ofrecording media, is adopted to optimize recording/reproducingcharacteristics. However, since recording conditions may vary from driveto drive, an optical recording medium compatible with one drive may notbe compatible with another drive. Conventionally, a drive may include apick-up and control apparatus, with the control apparatus controllingthe operation of the pickup to perform any recording, erasing, orreproducing operations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the above-described and other problems, it is an aspect of thepresent invention to provide a method of recording erase patterninformation, a method of erasing information based on recorded erasepattern information, and an optical recording medium storing informationabout power levels of first and last pulses of the erase pattern, suchthat a laser optimal power level necessary for erasing data is capableof being easily and quickly detected so the optical recording medium canbe used with any type of drive.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth inpart in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious fromthe description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

To achieve the above and other aspects, an embodiment of the presentinvention may provide a method for recording erase pattern informationon an optical recording medium, with the erase pattern informationincluding information about power levels of first and last pulses of anerase pattern for erasing data.

To further achieve the above and other aspects, an embodiment of thepresent invention may provide a method for erasing information from anoptical recording medium based on erase pattern information recorded onthe optical recording medium, with the erase pattern informationincluding information about power levels of first and last pulses of anerase pattern for erasing data.

To achieve the above and still other aspects, an embodiment of thepresent invention may provide an optical recording medium which allowsdata to be recorded on, erased from, and reproduced therefrom. Erasepattern information, including information about power levels of firstand last pulses of an erase pattern for erasing data, can be recorded inthe optical recording medium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent and more readily appreciated from the following description ofthe preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings of which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration showing different areas of an opticalrecording medium, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A through 2E are illustrations showing waveforms of data and fourtypes of erase patterns;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an example of a recording waveform forrecording data in a data zone of an optical recording medium, such asthat shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of data recorded in a pre-recorded area,such as that shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of data recorded in a pre-recorded area,such as that shown in FIG. 1, when the optical recording medium is adual layer optical recording medium.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elementsthroughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain thepresent invention by referring to the figures.

FIG. 1 is an illustration showing areas of an optical recording mediumincluding a burst cutting area (BCA), a pre-recorded area, and arewritable area. Referring to FIG. 1, in the BCA, information specificto the disk, such as a disk number or the like, is recorded in a barcodetype in a radial direction. In the pre-recorded area, data that is onlyreproducible is recorded as reproducible only high frequency wobbles orpits. Data recorded in the pre-recorded area includes data types, disksizes, channel bit lengths, disk structures, time required for formingrecording and erase patterns, recording powers, and the like. In theoptical recording medium according to an embodiment the presentinvention, erase pattern information about power levels of first andlast pulses of an erase pattern for erasing data is recorded in thereproducible only pre-recorded area or the rewritable area in/from whichdata is rewritten/reproduced. Hereinafter, for convenience, embodimentsof the present invention will only be described with the erase patterninformation being stored in the pre-recorded area, noting that thepresent invention is not limited thereto.

A combination of power levels of first and last pulses of an erasepattern for erasing data recorded in an optical disk can be classifiedinto four types according to different kinds of recording layers ofdisks or different kinds of disks, as illustrated in FIGS. 2B-2E.

Referring to FIGS. 2A-2E, an erase pattern can be classified into fourtypes: (a) LH; (b) HH; (c) HL; and (d) LL. The primary differencebetween each erase pattern is marked with a circle for easyidentification. FIG. 2A illustrates NRZI Data. In FIG. 2B, erase patternLH includes a power level of a first pulse being equal to a low levelP_(BE) of subsequent erase multi-pulses, with the erase multi-pulsesending at the low level P_(BE), and with the power level of a lastpulse, at Tsfp, being equal to a high level P_(PE) of the erase pattern.In FIG. 2C, erase pattern HH includes a power level of a first pulsebeing equal to a high level P_(PE) of subsequent erase multi-pulses,with the multi-pulses ending at the high level P_(PE), and with thelevel of a last pulse, at Tsfp, being maintained at the high levelP_(PE) of the erase pattern. In FIG. 2D, erase pattern HL includes apower level of a first pulse being equal to a high level P_(PE) ofsubsequent erase multi-pulses, with the erase multi-pulses ending at thehigh level P_(PE), and with the level of a last pulse, at Tsfp, beingequal to a low level P_(BE) of the erase pattern. Finally, in FIG. 2E,erase pattern LL includes a power level of a first pulse being equal toa low level P_(BE) of subsequent erase multi-pulses, with the erasemulti-pulse ending at the low level P_(BE), and with a level of a lastpulse, at Tsfp, being maintained at the low level P_(BE) of the erasepattern.

When the first and last pulses of an erase pattern can be differentlyset depending on differing kinds of recording layers of disks, differingkinds of disks, or even differing kinds of layers of a multi-layereddisk, and recorded in a reproducible only area, of an optical recordingmedium, a recording apparatus recording onto the optical recordingmedium does not need to perform additional tests to select an optimalerase power. Thus, by eliminating this conventionally required operationto select an optimal erase power, the time required for determining anerase power level can be considerably reduced.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an example of a recording waveform forrecording data in a data zone of an optical recording medium, such asthe optical recording medium shown in FIG. 1. In FIGS. 3A and 3B,horizontal quantities represent times of recording and erasing patternswhile vertical quantities represent recording powers.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of data recorded in a pre-recorded area,such as the prerecorded region shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 4, inthe pre-recorded area, besides the times required for forming recordingand erase patterns of the waveform shown in FIG. 3A, recording power,kinds of disks, sizes of disks, and the like can be recorded. Inaddition, the pre-recorded area includes reserved bytes that are notassigned for recording. Information about power levels of first and lastpulses of the erase pattern can also be recorded in one of thesereserved bytes. In FIG. 4, byte number (BN) N may be assigned forrecording information about the power levels of the first and lastpulses of the erase pattern. In detail, the power level of the firstpulse of the erase pattern can be defined as being high using 4 bits,and the power level of the last pulse can be defined as being low using4 bits. The low level P_(BE) of an erase pattern can be defined as“0001” and the high level P_(PE) of the erase pattern can be defined as“0000,” in the case of the erase pattern shown in FIG. 3B, such that“00010000” is recorded in BN N. A recording apparatus may then read“00010000” recorded in BN N of the optical disk, and thereby identifyappropriate power levels of the first pulse of the erase pattern, i.e.,P_(BE), and the last pulse, i.e., P_(PE), without additional testoperations to determine the same. In FIG. 4, M represents a last byte inan area storing disk information.

FIG. 5 illustrates another example of data recorded in the pre-recordedarea, such as the prerecorded area shown in FIG. 1 when the optical diskis a dual layer optical recording medium. Referring to FIG. 5, BN N canbe assigned for recording erase pattern information about power levelsof first and last pulses of an erase pattern for a first recording layerL0. BN N+1 can be assigned for recording erase pattern information aboutpower levels of first and last pulses of an erase pattern for a secondrecording layer L1. The respective power levels of the first pulses ofthe erase patterns can be defined as being high using 4 bits of each ofBN N and N+1, and the respective power levels of the last pulses can bedefined as being low using 4 bits of each of BN N and N+1.

In FIG. 5, even though erase pattern information of two recording layersare recorded in one recording layer, erase pattern informationcorresponding to each recording layer can be recorded in each of the tworecording layers.

As described above, embodiments of the present invention set forthoptical disks recording power levels of first and last pulses of anerase pattern, with the power levels being differently set depending onthe differing kind or kinds of recording layer or layers of the disk ordiffering kinds of disks, and recorded in a reproducible only area orrewritable area of the optical recording medium. Thus, by presetting theappropriate erase power levels, the time required for selecting anoptimal erase power for the optical recording medium can be considerablyreduced.

Although a few preferred embodiments of the present invention have beenshown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe claims and their equivalents.

1. An apparatus for recording data on an optical recording medium, theoptical recording medium having a plurality of recording layers andallowing data to be recorded thereon, erased therefrom, and reproducedtherefrom, the apparatus comprising: a recording and/or reading unitconfigured to record data on and/or read data from the recording layersof the optical recording medium; and a control unit configured tocontrol the recording and/or reading unit to: read, from the opticalrecording medium, erase pattern information about a power level of afirst pulse of an erase pattern and a power level of a period between anend of the erase pattern and a first pulse of a write pattern; andrecord data based on the erase pattern information on the recordinglayers, wherein the power level of the first pulse of the erase patternand the power level of the period between the end of the erase patternand the first pulse of the write pattern are set based on recordingconditions.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the erase patterninformation is recorded for each of the plurality of recording layers ina recording layer selected from the plurality of recording layers. 3.The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the erase pattern information isrecorded in a reproducible only area of the selected recording layer, ora recordable area of the selected recording layer.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the erase pattern information further comprisesduration information regarding a duration of the period between the lastpulse of the erase pattern and the first pulse of the write pattern. 5.The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the respective erase patterninformation for each of the plurality of recording layers is recorded ina reproducible only area or a recordable area of each of the recordinglayers.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the erase patterncomprises a first power level and a second power level; and the powerlevel of the first pulse of the erase pattern and the power level of theperiod between the end of the erase pattern and the first pulse of thewrite pattern are selected to one of the first power level and thesecond power level, based on the recording conditions.
 7. An apparatusfor erasing data from an optical recording medium, with the opticalrecording medium allowing data to be recorded thereon, erased therefrom,and reproduced therefrom, the apparatus comprising: a reading unitconfigured to read, from the optical recording medium, erase patterninformation identifying a power level of a first pulse of an erasepattern and a power level of a period between an end the erase patternand a first pulse of a write pattern for use to select an optimum erasepower; and a control unit configured to control the reading unit toerase data recorded on the optical recording medium, based on the erasepattern information, wherein the power level of the first pulse of theerase pattern and the power level of the period between the end theerase pattern and the first pulse of the write pattern are set based onrecording conditions.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the erasepattern information is recorded in a reproducible only area or arecordable area of a recording layer of the optical recording medium. 9.The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the erase pattern informationcomprises duration information regarding a duration of the periodbetween the end the erase pattern and the first pulse of the writepattern.
 10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the erase patterncomprises a first power level and a second power level, and the powerlevel of the first pulse of the erase pattern and the power level of theperiod between the end of the erase pattern and the first pulse of thewrite pattern are selected to one of the first power level and thesecond power level based on the recording conditions.